Religious affilition, what do you believe?

[PipenSnus]

My karma ran over my dogma.

But seriously, I would define myself as a True Agnostic. By that I mean that not only do I admit I don't know whether or not a Divine Being exists, but also that I don't believe it is possible for anyone to truly know. The human mind simply isn't that powerful. Whether you say "God exists" or "God does not exist", you are still expressing a belief. You can believe whatever brings you comfort, but belief is not knowledge, and never will be.

OTOH, I'm fascinated with belief systems and how they influence people's behavior. I was raised a fundamentalist Christian, but became thoroughly disillusioned with that belief system as a teenager. I studied nearly all the world's religions and philosophies, and practiced a few. But the more I studied, the more I discovered there are always more questions than answers. I no longer follow any one particular path, but I take what I find useful from any and all systems of belief, mixed with a large helping of skepticism and logic.

I'm still very interested in spirituality, and in living an ethical life. But I've come to realize that what you believe isn't really important -- it's what you practice that counts.

[AllanH]

I'm baptized and confessed Lutheran Christian even though for years I attended the Sermon of Anti-Christ aka Catholic Mass. After the truth of child rape in Catholic institutions emerged I stopped going to Catholic churches.
Martin Luther was absolutely right in basic principles of faith in my opinion.

[dupee419]

Buddhist here

[tom502]

Dupee- what school of Buddhism? I think Pure Land in well known in Hawaii. I like Jodo Shinshu a lot.

I like Osho Rajneesh a lot:

Beyond Belief-- Trusting Your Own Experience



My Truth cannot become yours, otherwise it would have been very cheap. If my truth could be yours then there would be no problem.



That is the difference between a scientific truth and a religious truth. A scientific truth can be borrowed. A scientific truth, once known, becomes everybody else's property. Albert Einstein discovered the theory of relativity. Now there is no need for everybody to discover it again and again and again. That would be foolish. Once discovered, it has become public. Now it is everybody's theory. Once discovered, once proved, now even a school child can learn it. Now no genius is needed--- you need not be an Albert Einstein. Just a mediocre mind will do; just an ordinary mind will do. You can understand it and it is yours. Of course, Einstein had to work for years--- then he was able to discover it. You need not work. If you are ready to understand and put your mind to it, in just a few hours you will understand.



But the same is not true about a religious truth. Buddha discovered, Christ discovered, Nanak and Kabir discovered, but their discovery cannot become your discovery. You will have to rediscover it again. You will have to move again from ABC; you cannot just believe in them. That won't help. But that is what humanity has been doing: mistaking religious truth for scientific truth. It is not scientific truth, it can never become a public property. Each individual has to come to it alone, each individual has to come to it again and again. It can never become available in the market.

From: New Man for the New Millennium

[Bigblue1]

I must abstain from this thread, that is my current religion...

[Owens187]

I aint going near this one...






NOTICE:

This thread will self-destruct in 9, 8, 7 ,6 ..............

[Jwalker]

Christian.

and it's not a religion - rather a relationship with God our creator and his son, Jesus Christ, our savior.

....and yes, I have a lot of work to do on myself...

This

[sgreger1]

Dupee- what school of Buddhism? I think Pure Land in well known in Hawaii. I like Jodo Shinshu a lot.

I like Osho Rajneesh a lot:

Beyond Belief-- Trusting Your Own Experience



My Truth cannot become yours, otherwise it would have been very cheap. If my truth could be yours then there would be no problem.



That is the difference between a scientific truth and a religious truth. A scientific truth can be borrowed. A scientific truth, once known, becomes everybody else's property. Albert Einstein discovered the theory of relativity. Now there is no need for everybody to discover it again and again and again. That would be foolish. Once discovered, it has become public. Now it is everybody's theory. Once discovered, once proved, now even a school child can learn it. Now no genius is needed--- you need not be an Albert Einstein. Just a mediocre mind will do; just an ordinary mind will do. You can understand it and it is yours. Of course, Einstein had to work for years--- then he was able to discover it. You need not work. If you are ready to understand and put your mind to it, in just a few hours you will understand.



But the same is not true about a religious truth. Buddha discovered, Christ discovered, Nanak and Kabir discovered, but their discovery cannot become your discovery. You will have to rediscover it again. You will have to move again from ABC; you cannot just believe in them. That won't help. But that is what humanity has been doing: mistaking religious truth for scientific truth. It is not scientific truth, it can never become a public property. Each individual has to come to it alone, each individual has to come to it again and again. It can never become available in the market.

From: New Man for the New Millennium

Wow, that makes so much sense and is so true, yet i never thought of it that way. I really want to study Buddhism someday i think i would enjoy it.

[SnusoMatic]

I am a follower of Jesus Christ the Son of God.

I was an satanist and considered myself an atheist until about age 23. I looked down on the churches because i had never really had any positive experiences with church or church people. Later on I would figure out that while I was a satanist i had been an antitheist and not really an atheist. At about 23 or 24 I had a few things happen that made become more curious about the Bible. I tried going to some churches but never found what I guess I expected to find. By then I had figured out that satanism was not the way to go and had mostly given it up. I knew that there was "something" or "someone" else i wanted in my heart but i had not found it.

Bells went off in my head and told me (no. no voices haha) that I could figure this out myself. So I started reading and studying whatever I could find. No Internet back then so it was harder to find stuff to read. I read and studied the Bible on my own, wow zang bang yes one can read it for ones self and understand.

Folks, no one can make someone else believe anything and Jesus did not tell us to beat it into others. Here is some truth that seems to be hard to find these days, the Bible is the Truth but man has perverted it for his own use. For example, Jesus sent his disciples out to preach to the nations (gentiles). in a nutshell he told them if people don't want to hear what they preached, they should shake the dust from their sandals as they left the city. IOW, just tell them the word and leave it up to them to accept or not. Also, I cannot find one place in the Bible that Jesus told people to be political or nationalistic. The Bible is full of fulfilled prophecies and prophecies being fulfilled now. There is a lot of supporting documentation out there other than just the Bible although I believe that is enough.

If I would have left it up to people in churches to tell me what the Bible says.... well i would either not be a Christian or I would not be a Christian in a church.

Well that's all folks. I tried to hold myself back from posting but was not able to resist. I find this thread very interesting. A lot more interesting than a lot of the others out there. If you find yourself reading down to here thanks hanging in there and for your time ;-)

[tom502]

Nice post, whatever path one chooses, is the path for them, as we are all on our own spiritual journey, whether we know it or not. Your pro-Christian post though really conflicts with what I last read here http://www.luciferianliberationfront...ml#Anti-Tracts! No offence, it's just amazing how various views can be so different.


Sgreger- Yeah, I love Rajneesh. But he's not a Buddhist, or any religion, he's a rebel mystic, he tells it like it is, and isn't afraid to. http://www.oshoworld.com/

[AtreyuKun]

http://www.luciferianliberationfront...ml#Anti-Tracts

I can't believe that site is still around. I think I visited that site back in the '90s. It looks like time has been standing still for these guys. Animated gifs, clipart, satan inside....lol. I miss those days.

[Roo]

Satanist turned Christian? That's awesome. Tom, if you haven't, check out the Vimalakirti Sutra. Its about a lowly layman who achieves near-buddhahood and it's full of great stories. Definitely my favorite sutra. I am not Buddhist, just studied it a lot.

[tom502]

I'll check it out, I have read a few Sutras, mostly the Lotus Sutra, as I used to practice Nichiren Buddhism.

Overall, my fave spiritual book is the Bhagavad Gita.

[Grampy]

I am a follower of Jesus Christ the Son of God.

I was an satanist and considered myself an atheist until about age 23. I looked down on the churches because i had never really had any positive experiences with church or church people. Later on I would figure out that while I was a satanist i had been an antitheist and not really an atheist. At about 23 or 24 I had a few things happen that made become more curious about the Bible. I tried going to some churches but never found what I guess I expected to find. By then I had figured out that satanism was not the way to go and had mostly given it up. I knew that there was "something" or "someone" else i wanted in my heart but i had not found it.

Bells went off in my head and told me (no. no voices haha) that I could figure this out myself. So I started reading and studying whatever I could find. No Internet back then so it was harder to find stuff to read. I read and studied the Bible on my own, wow zang bang yes one can read it for ones self and understand.

Folks, no one can make someone else believe anything and Jesus did not tell us to beat it into others. Here is some truth that seems to be hard to find these days, the Bible is the Truth but man has perverted it for his own use. For example, Jesus sent his disciples out to preach to the nations (gentiles). in a nutshell he told them if people don't want to hear what they preached, they should shake the dust from their sandals as they left the city. IOW, just tell them the word and leave it up to them to accept or not. Also, I cannot find one place in the Bible that Jesus told people to be political or nationalistic. The Bible is full of fulfilled prophecies and prophecies being fulfilled now. There is a lot of supporting documentation out there other than just the Bible although I believe that is enough.

If I would have left it up to people in churches to tell me what the Bible says.... well i would either not be a Christian or I would not be a Christian in a church.

Well that's all folks. I tried to hold myself back from posting but was not able to resist. I find this thread very interesting. A lot more interesting than a lot of the others out there. If you find yourself reading down to here thanks hanging in there and for your time ;-)

Thanks for your post. My story is similar to yours, except I was athiest rather than satanist. I was 28 when I became a believer. Evidence is what I needed as I cannot blindly follow any belief without proof. When I was an athiest I would occasionally ask Christians questions like "Why does God let bad things happen to good people", or "How do you know the Christian faith is the correct one, and others are not?". I never received good answers to those and many other questions I had.

A close friend mailed me a book called "A Case for Faith" (Lee Strobel) which answered some of my questions with well thought out answers. I found and read many other apologetic books that were written by intelligent philosophers that make a case for Christianity. One of my favorites was "When Critics Ask" which goes through verse for verse and answers all the alleged inconsistencies people have with scriptures. I've stopped judging Christianity based on what Christ's followers do, and now judge it on what scriptures asks of us.

[truthwolf1]

I was just reading a little about the Amish, (looking for Amish chewing tobacco) and the rampant rape and molestation in those communities is just really pissing me off today.